UK MPs To Vote On Bill To Override N.Ireland Brexit Pact

Faizan Hashmi Published June 27, 2022 | 02:20 PM

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jun, 2022 ) :British lawmakers will on Monday get their first chance to vote on a government bill to overhaul post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland, despite EU warnings it is illegal and could spark a trade war.

The UK government unveiled its Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to unilaterally change trading terms for the politically fraught British province earlier this month, prompting the European Union to pledge legal action.

Brussels says overriding the deal it struck in 2019 with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government breaches international law.

But Britain insists it has been left with little choice after accusing the 27-member bloc of applying the protocol too rigidly and refusing to renegotiate the pact.

"You've got unnecessary barriers to trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland," Johnson told reporters Monday from a G7 summit in Germany.

"All we're saying is that you can get rid of those, whilst not in any way endangering the EU single market." The House of Commons will spend the afternoon debating the draft legislation, before holding an initial vote in the evening, ahead of further scrutiny and votes.

In awkward timing, MPs will vote as Johnson is socialising at the summit with the EU's top leaders, including European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

"The interesting thing is how little this conversation is being had... here," the British leader claimed.